New portal to spur gender diversity in Malaysian workforce

• flexWorkLife.my aims to be a repository of best ideas and practices on flexible work arrangements and family-friendly facilities
• Employers can now apply online for tax incentive on training expenses incurred to retrain women returning to workforce

THE Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development and Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad (TalentCorp) have launched a new portal to create greater awareness of gender diversity and inclusion in the workforce.

Called flexWorkLife.my, the initiative is aimed at raising awareness of gender diversity and inclusion in the workforce through a repository of best ideas and practices on flexible work arrangements and family-friendly facilities.

“In line with the Government’s aspirations, the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development has taken steps to promote the participation of women in the labour market by making more career options available to them to suit their family and lifestyle needs,” its minister Hajah Rohani Abdul Karim said at the launch at a conference with the theme 'Optimising Work-Life.'

Mindful of the challenge that employees face in having to juggle personal and professional commitments, flexWorkLife.my aims to build a network of employers and talents to optimise work-life integration, while maximising work efficiency and enhancing employee engagement, the ministry said.

Employers can find on the portal a combination of best practices, case studies and success stories on work-life integration. In addition, employers can post job opportunities with flexible work arrangements.

“Despite numerous studies proving the positive effects of a diverse workforce on an organisation’s bottom line, not enough of Corporate Malaysia view diversity and inclusion as a business imperative," said Idris Jala, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department. 

"Given Malaysia’s ambitious transformation agenda, tapping on our women talent is critical if companies want to enlarge and enrich their talent pool in an era of scarce resources,” added Idris, who also sits on TalentCorp’s Board of Trustees.

Effective today, employers can also apply online for a tax incentive on training expenses incurred to retrain women who have returned to work after a career break.

The tax incentive is designed to encourage employers to provide relevant trainings for women who are being re-employed after their career break, with the aim to assist them to assimilate into their new role.

The new portal was developed by the ministry and TalentCorp in partnership with myStarjob.com, and is targeted for jobseekers looking for careers offering flexible working arrangements as well as those wanting greater work-life balance to manage their personal and professional commitments.

According to the Retaining Women in the Workforce Report published by the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and TalentCorp early this year, Malaysian women visibly desire flexible work arrangements that accommodate family commitments, support for maternal needs, optimum work-life balance, and equal opportunities and rewards. However, only 30% of the survey respondents’ employers have a flexible work arrangements policy.

In view of this, the conference also featured the country’s first job fair, flexFair, which highlighted career opportunities with employers that have flexible work arrangements and offer work-life practices and benefits.

More than 15 leading organisations participated at the flexFair including Accenture, AirAsia X, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, McDonald’s, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Securities Commission Malaysia and Telekom Malaysia.

To check out flexWorkLife.my, click here.

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